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This painting depicts Francis Scott Key seeing the American flag flying over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor the day after he witnessed the British bombardment of the fort in the War of 1812. This sighting inspired Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner." | AP Photo

'Star-Spangled Banner' becomes U.S. national anthem, March 3, 1931

On this day in 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a bill designating “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the official national anthem of the United States. The anthem had been recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889, and by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

The playing of the song during the seventh-inning stretch of the first game of the 1918 World Series, and thereafter during each game of the series, is often erroneously cited as the first instance that the anthem was played at a baseball game.

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On April 15, 1929, Rep. John Linthicum (D-Md.) (1867-1932) introduced legislation that would make the song the national anthem. Francis Scott Key had written the lyrics in a poem in 1814 during the British siege of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor.

Key (1779-1843) was a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet who had witnessed the bombardment of the fort by ships of the British Royal Navy during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large American flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, flying above the fort before the American victory.

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It took nearly a year for Linthicum to secure a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, which claimed jurisdictional authority over the measure.

Linthicum urged his colleagues to attend the session. “This country needs a national song to give expression to its patriotism," he said. Linthicum also submitted to the panel a petition of support with more than 5 million individual signatures, accompanied by resolutions and sympathetic letters from 150 organizations. Also included in his submission were “letters and telegrams from 25 governors ... asking that the bill be enacted into law.”

Although the House approved the bill on April 21, 1930, the measure drew its share of critics. Detractors claimed that Linthicum, whose district encompassed parts of Baltimore, was eager to promote the city’s history more than he was in furthering patriotism. Moreover, they noted that the old British drinking song — with its challenging range of 19 semitones — to which Key’s words were attached remained ill-suited to the vocal range of many Americans.

Nevertheless, as one of the final acts of the about-to-expire Congress, the Senate also approved the House bill. Even after the anthem legislation had been enacted, some newspaper editorials continued to raise questions about the need for such a statute.

While the anthem has four stanzas, only the first one is commonly sung today. The fourth (“O thus be it ever when free men shall stand ...”) is sometimes added on more formal occasions.

Before 1931, several other songs, including “America the Beautiful,” served as hymns of American officialdom. “Hail, Columbia” served this purpose at many official functions for most of the 19th century. “My Country, 'Tis of Thee,” whose melody is the same as “God Save the Queen,” the British national anthem, also often served the same purpose at public events.